Regulable and power consuming reducing discharge device for centrifugal separators



' g- 1939. K. J. SVENSSON REGULABLE AND POWER CONSUMING REDUCING DISCHAR DEVICE FOR CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATORS Filed Oct. 1935 ar/daiavz SI/CkSS IZ Patented Aug. 15, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REGULABLE AND POWER CONSUMIING RE- DUCING DISCHARGE DEVICE FOR CEN- TRIFUGAL SEPARATORS Application October 5, 1935, Serial No. 43,679

In Germany November 23, 1934 3 Claims.

A substantial part of the power used for rotating high speed centrifugal bowls is consumed by the liquids flowing out of the bowl. Owing to the high rate at which the liquids flow out they are very finely divided, which in several respects create objectionable conditions. In order to avoid or at least reduce these difficulties, it is known to so construct the outlet of the bowl through which the largest part of the liquid streams out as to direct the jet of liquid as nearly as possible tangentially backwards in relation to the direction of rotation of the bowl. It was then deemed necessary to locate the regulation and control devices of the bowl at the other liquid outlet, which, however, is unsatisfactory, especially if the limits of regulation of such machines must be very wide, as, for example, in centrifuges for the separation of different kinds of oil. It is therefore often necessary to arrange the regulating devices in the outlet which is at the greatest outflow radius or through which the greater part of the liquid flows out, that is, in the outlet where a power saving outlet is of the greatest advantage.

The present invention relates to a power saving outlet for centrifugal bowls, characterized in that the outlet radius for the liquid can be changed at will, without necessitating the exchange of a complete expensive outlet device. The device, in its most efficient embodiment, consists of an annular part, on the surface of which, facing the interior of the bowl, channels or spouts are arranged, which are directed backwards and are covered by an exchangeable annular disc, the central hole of which is used as an outlet for the liquid discharging from the bowl.

The accompanying sheet of drawings illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention. Fig. l is a vertical section of the upper part of a bowl embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

The mixture to be separated may be fed to the bowl in any known way. In the bowl illustrated, the mixture enters a centrally positioned receiver and distributor a and thence is conveyed to the interior of the bowl I). The bowl may be provided with a liner composed of the well known pile of conical discs 0, above which is the so-called top disc (1, which maintains separated the lighter and heavier centrifuged constituents during their discharge from the bowl. The top disc is provided with a neck e forming and enclosing a discharge passage for the lighter separated constituent. Outflow passages for the heavier separated constituent, of known construction, lead from the periphery of the bowl upward and inward outside the top disc. Such passages may be channels 9 formed in the upper or outer side of the top disc and discharging into a chamber h which communicates with the adjustable discharge device which, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, is constructed as follows:

Surrounding the neck e is an annular plate 2' provided on its lower face with depending curved ribs k which, at their peripheries, are nearly tangential to the periphery of the plate 2 and thence extend inward in the direction of rotation of the bowl so as to form spaced apart curved channels m open at their opposite ends and along their bottoms.

Applied against the lower faces of the ribs 10 and thereby closing the bottoms of the channels m except near their inner ends is an exchangeable annular disc n, the diameter of the open ing enclosed determining the outlet radius of the outflowing heavier constituent, which enters the inner ends of the channels m through said opening and thence flows therethrough backward relatively to the direction of rotation'of the bowl and is discharged, at the outer ends of the channels, nearly tangentially.

The plate 2' and the disc 11, are shown provided with downwardly and outwardly bent flanges 0, which are confined between the hood of the bowl and an inwardly extending annular flange on a lock ring 10. T is a rubber ring for making a tight joint between the disc 11. and the bowl hood. It is a comparatively simple matter to unscrew the lock ring and substitute, for the disc 11., a disc having a hole of a different diameter and then re-lock the parts in operative position. Thereby the outlet radius for the heavier separated constituent may be readily changed according to the specific gravity of the different liquid constituents without the necessity of changing the discharge device as a whole or of changing the principal element thereof.

The invention will, of course, find its most useful application to bowls in which the heavier separated constituent comprises a major proportion of the original mixture.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a centrifugal separator bowl having an open upper end and a top disc within the bowl and having a neck extending within the open upper end of the bowl and enclosing a passage for the outflow of the lighter separated constituent and providing a channel between it and the bowl shell for the outflow of the heavier separated constituent toward the open upper end of the bowl, of a combined power saving and discharge regulating and control device mounted on the upper end of the bowl, said device comprising annular members, one of said members closing the bowl top except between its inner edge and the neck of the top disc, thus providinga weir over which the heavier separated constituent is adapted to flow, the other member providing rearwardlv directed channels extending inward to near the neck of the top disc and through which the separated constituent flowing over said weir escapes to the outside of the bowl, the first named member being removable and exchangeable with other similar members having weirs of different radii, whereby one combined power saving and discharge regulating and control device may be substituted for another by changing only the element that determines the radius of discharge.

2. The combination with a centrifugal separator bowl having an open upper end and a top disc within the bowl and having a neck extending within the open upper end of the bowl and enclosing a passage for the outflow of the lighter separated constituent and providing a channel between it and the bowl shell for the outflow of the heavier separated constituent toward the open upper end of the bowl, of a combined power saving and discharge regulating and control device, said device comprising two separate annular members mounted on the upper end of the bowl and closing the same except as hereinafter specified, one of said members being an annular disc determining the radius of discharge of the heavier separated liquid and being exchangeable with other similar members having difierent internal diameters, the other member having rearwal'dly directed channels extending inward to near the neck of the top disc and closed along their longitudinal extension by the first named member for a distance corresponding to the width of said disc and through which the heavier separated liquid outflows over the inner edge of the first named member to the outside of the bowl, and means to removably secure both said members in contacting operative position on the bowl.

3. The combination with a centrifugal separator bowl and passages leading respectively from the peripheral and central parts of the bowl for the outflow of heavier and lighter separated constituents respectively, of a combined power-saving and discharge regulating and control device mounted on the bowl and communicating with the passage through which one of said constituents outflows, said discharge device comprising a member having discharge channels opening along their length and at their outer ends, an exchangeable member closing the openings along the length of the channels for a predetermined distance from their outer ends and having a central opening over the edge of which one of said separated constituents is discharged into said channels, whereby the radius of discharge into said channels may be changed by exchanging KARL J OHAN SVENSSON. 

